As we traveled East to West on Route 58 this past week, meeting with small business owners and individuals in their hometowns, the one word that continued to be repeated time and time again was “uncertainty.”

That addiction manifests itself as we queue up at the big box stores: our carts full of clinking, clanking, clattering collections of caliginous junk.
Ah, but junk that is low-priced.
Our small merchants have been run out of business, unable to compete on the scale of the big box boys.
We enabled that situation, because we were unable to resist those low prices.

The now well-known phrase, “it’s the economy, stupid,” was coined by James Carville during the 1992 presidential election.
Carville, the crafty Louisiana-born brain behind Bill Clinton’s campaign, even had the phrase written on the blackboard to remind the Clinton team that whatever else might distract them, the economy was the most important issue.

It was 68 years ago today that thousands of American, British and Canadian soldiers boarded landing craft for one of the decisive battles of World War II.
The United States had wanted to do it the year before. We wanted something to bring the war to a successful end as quickly as possible. The Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had also been clamoring for the Western allies to open up a second front against the Germans. Winston Churchill, however, had balked. He seemed to want to piddle around in the Mediterranean.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg doesn’t want residents in his city drinking Big Gulps—or any other sugary soda offered for sale at more than 16 ounces a pop.
His position is inconsistent, at best.
Bloomberg states his goal is to reduce obesity and the Big Gulp is to blame. He claims the heart of the bulging problem is that evil, sugary soda pumping through the veins of NYC’s residents and guests.
Government must step in, according to Dr. Bloomberg.

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of local and other places/activities for your family to enjoy this summer.

Summer is the time to take a vacation from work or encourage the kids to get off the couch for a day or two. If the family is still in need of a few new ideas or just need to be reminded of some of Virginia’s classics, here are a few family friendly travel ideas for this upcoming week.

Annette Carter believes that Alzheimer’s doesn’t get the attention it should.

She notes that there are all sorts of activities around to raise awareness about cancer, but little about Alzheimer’s. Not that she begrudges the attention that cancer gets, but she would like to see more done to raise awareness about the devastating brain disease known as Alzheimer’s.